4a Group#2

Ode to CalTrans

1.Ode to CalTrans by Hector Tobar

2.His story is about his growing up in the city of Los Angles and his experiences with the LA freeways. He witnessed fearful events that made him scared of driving on the freeway for years, not even when his children were about to be born. He speaks about how the highway has changed so much when he was young. He saw all the new wide lanes created, the construction finished and the highways were much more efficient. Tobar dedicated all the highway work to Caltrans for their amazing work to make it better. All his life was revolved around LA and their highways and he has made an ode to Caltrans for their work to make everyone’s life much better.

3.“Every now and then I became aware of when and where one of these workers were killed; CalTrans placed signs with a picture of a white CalTrans helmet on the roadside, as a poignant and wordless memorial. But then there were too many signs and CalTrans took them down because a highway shouldn’t look like a cemetery.” (p.54)

4.This reading made me think of the craziness of Southern California and their driving style. Everyone is in a rush and there are so many people. The part where he saw the sports car flipped and flew like a gyroscope reminded of me when I saw an accident like that. I was driving on one of our freeways, Freeway 101, I saw a car flipped upside down, sparks flying, traveling about 30 miles per hour on its roof. It scared me because it was the first accident or dangerous activity on the freeway that I have seen. It made me see how dangerous driving fast and driving recklessly can be. It made me slow down and drives safer.

5.One thing that I read that I didn’t know before was that Caltrans made memorials for the entire fallen CalTrans worker. They would have place a sign with the person’s picture on the helmet on the side of the road. This is an amazing respect for the workers and since too many workers were killed and too many memorials made it like a cemetery. They discontinued the memorial because they didn’t want driving on the freeways to make it like a cemetery.

Montalvo, myths, and dreams of home

1.Montalvo, myths, and dreams of home by Thomas Steinbeck

2.This story is about the origin of California. He talks about how California got its name way before the Lewis and Clark discovery of the West but with Cortez and his discovery of California and baja California. The story starts in the 1500’s on Garcia Rodrigues de Montavlo depicts a lush and fruitful paradise, a utopian island in the western seas. He named the place after his cousin, California. He also talks about his life in California, his favorite place The Big Sur between besides the high Sierras and the northwest.

3.“Hidden within the romantic convolutions of the text, was the reinvention of an ancient vision, for Montalvo depicted a lush and fruitful paradise, a utopian island set in the western sea. Though few know or care about the original story, everyone knows the name of Montalvo’s “Atlantian” cousin, for he christened his paradise California.” (p. 64)

4.This reading made me think of how California’s history goes back for hundreds of years. I didn’t know much of California’s history but I thought I was the discovery by Lewis and Clark and that’s how the named started but it goes back all the way to Spain and their famous writers and authors. It made me think of the old west and the origin of California but in a different way, now I know the where the name California came from. It is true that California is a utopia because it has a lot of every state.

5.One thing that I didn’t know before read this was where the name California came from. I was clueless on where the name came from and didn’t ever bother to find out but now since I found out new info I’m happy to finally know. The name fits perfect with what Montalvo describe as a paradise in the western seas.

The last little beach town

1.The last little beach town by Edward Humes

2.The story talks about Seal Beach and its attractiveness and how much it has changed. It starts out with a little beach town in the Orange County. He talks about the other beach cities, like Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and many other beach cities that have grown faster. Little beaches left like Seal Beach or Crystal Cove has a magic about their town. Their old style town and old style ways have keep their towns historic. The old-fashion businesses are locally owned and restaurants’ only requirements are shirts and shoes. The old fashion style helps keep the beach town like the old days of the Beach Boys. The beach town soon changes though, into million dollar beach towns and resorts. The towns are starting to slowly lose their historic style.

3.“The Center of Old Town is Main Street, a true old-fashioned downtown, where most of the businesses are locally owned and the fanciest restaurant’s only dress requirement is shirt and shoes. Business is conducted in shorts and T-shirts; the local congressman can be seen now and then yakking on his cell in his wet suit after surfing.”(p.74)

4.This reading made me think of when I was at an old beach town. I remember the uniqueness of the beach towns, the nice people and the beach itself. Beach towns are a major different from any other types of cities. The atmosphere is so different and not what I expected when I was in socal beach town. The people are so nice and unique. They attitudes are very optimistic and caring. I wish I could go back there right now.

5.One thing that I didn’t know before reading this story was how many beach towns are left that are historic and secluded. I’ve seen some beach cities that have explored in the economy and have multimillion dollar homes and resorts. It is nice to know that there are some towns left that have been preserved and not like the other beach towns that are rich. I would like to visit these towns to truly experience a beach town like in the mid 1900’s.

Surfacing

1.Surfacing by Matt Warshaw

2.A story about a 16 year-old named Jay Moriarity who surfed one of the biggest wave at the new surf paradise Maverick off of Half Moon Bay in the bay area. Warshaw shows us how exciting and dangerous and a way of life when it comes to surfing. Surfing has everything in it and that’s why Moriarity when to surf during a storm in Half Moon Bay. He waited until a storm came to Half Moon Bay to surf one of the biggest waves in Maverick history. He woke up early in the morning to hop onto a boat to go out into the sea to surf Maverick. The waves were bigger then he thought. The first wave he rode, he wiped out and hit the bottom of the sea. He almost drowned but managed to rosed to the surface. He took his second board because his first broke, then rode his second wave to the top.

3.“Below the surface, energy and mass burst downward, creating a field of vertical-flushing gyratory columns, and Moriarity, trapped inside one of these columns, spun end over end until his back and shoulders were fixed against the ocean floor. He clenched, and a bubble of oxygen rushed past his teeth. Maverick’s was a deepwater break, he’d been told; nobody ever hit bottom. The next wave would be overhead in another ten or twelve second, and Moriarity wondered if, from his depth, he could get to the surface—to—before it arrived.”(p.86)

4.This reading made me think of what a surfer goes thought and why they do what they do. After reading this I realized that surfing is a way of life, the excitement and dangerousness at the same time. It reminds me of the rush and excitement doing extraordinaire. Doing something you have never done before and the feeling is amazing. It reminded me of skydiving. Something I’ve had never done before and the feeling was amazing. A feeling that couldn’t be explained but it is a feeling that has to be experience in order to understand how those people feel. Everyone needs to do something to have an experience of a rush of adrenaline and scared to enjoy life.

5.One thing that I didn’t know before reading this was how surfing is more then just surfing. Its excitement, its dangerous, and its life. Everyone does it because there is every thing in one. The rush of adrenaline, the danger, the scariness and the feeling to overcoming and success. Surfing has all this just in one wave. That is why surfer surfed because it is their life, it is their passion and it is their happiness.